A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46
APPENDIX 1
The Sample
The sample was designed to represent the adult civilian population of England and Wales between the ages of 20-54.
These age limits were chosen so as to exclude those completing their elementary education during the war years and older people whose impressions of their own school years were not likely to be clear.
It should be remembered that the sample does not include men and women in the forces. This means that the men in the sample are considerably older on the average than the whole male population of England and Wales. It also means that the men of military age in the sample are a special group, and their views may therefore not be the same as those of all the men in this age group.
It was believed that the people of Wales had special problems and interests in the educational field and as the proportion of the population living in Wales is small a subsidiary sample of the Welsh population was taken. This was not of course included In the main sample.
The sample was stratified by region, by urban and rural areas, by sex and by occupation. Below comparison is made between the proportions of interviews made with different groups and the proportions set to be done in these groups. It will be seen that the sample designed was achieved.
| Region | Sample Set | Sample done |
| % | % | |
| North | 6 | 6 |
| North-East | 10 | 10 |
| North-West | 16 | 15 |
| North-Midlands | 8 | 8 |
| Midlands | 11 | 11 |
| Wales | 6 | 7 |
| East | 7 | 7 |
| South | 6 | 6 |
| South West | 7 | 7 |
| South East | 5 | 5 |
| London | 18 | 18 |
Occupation
Urban/Rural
Sex
The proportions of men and women in different age groups in the Sample are compared below with the proportions in the population as shown by Registrar General’s figures.
Sex by Age
| Men | Women | |||
| Age | Registrar General’s statistics | Sample | Registrar General’s statistics | Sample |
| % | % | % | % | |
| 20-29 | 16 | 14 | 28 | 28 |
| 30-39 | 31 | 32 | 31 | 37 |
| 40-54 | 53 | 53 | 41 | 35 |
| (741) | (1224) | |||
Age
In the analyses below, comparison is made between the proportions found in different groups in this sample and in the “Health Index” sample which covers the population of England and Wales aged 16 to 60.
| Health Index * March 1945 | Education Sample | |
| % | % | |
| Married | 72 | 77 |
| Single | 21 | 18 |
| Widowed or divorced | 7 | 5 |
| (2397) | (1965) |
Status by Sex
The differences shown may be accounted for by the fact that most of those aged 16-19 would be single and these are included in Health Index sample but not in Education sample. Also more widows might be expected in the Health Index sample as the 55-59 age group is included.
Economic Group
The economic classification used by the Social Survey is based upon the wage rate of the chief wage-earner in the informant’s family. It therefore indicates broad economic groups and not individual incomes.